FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
IN RE: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC
REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC.,
JONATHAN E. ROBINSON; SALLY J.
ROBINSON-BURKE; ROSA A. SILVAS;
JOSEPHA S. LOPEZ; JOSE TRINIDAD
CASAS; MARIA C. CASAS; LYNDON
B. GRAVES; TYRONE EVENSON;
MICHELLINA EVENSON; BRYAN
GRAY, [for complete list of
plaintiff/appellants, see Notice of
Appeal]; PABLO LEON,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE
SERVICING, INC.; AMERICA’S
SERVICING COMPANY; AMERICA’S
WHOLESALE LENDER; AURORA
LOAN SERVICES, LLC; AZTEC
FORECLOSURE CORP.; BAC HOME
LOANS SERVICING LP; BANK OF
AMERICA, NA; BANK OF NEW YORK
MELLON; CALIFORNIA
RECONVEYANCE CO.; CENTRAL
MORTGAGE CO.; COOPER CASTLE
LAW FIRM LLP; CR TITLE SERVICES,
INC.; DEUTSCHE BANK; EXECUTIVE
TRUSTEE SERVICES, LLC; FEDERAL
HOME LOAN MORTGAGE
CORPORATION; FEDERAL HOUSING
FINANCE AGENCY; FEDERAL
NATIONAL MORTGAGE
ASSOCIATION; FIDELITY NATIONAL
TITLE INSURANCE CO.; FIRST
AMERICAN LOAN STAR TRUSTEE
SERVICES, LLC; FIRST HORIZON
HOME LOAN CORP.; G.E. MONEY
BANK; GMAC MORTGAGE, LLC;
HOUSEKEY FINANCIAL CORP.; HSBC
MORTGAGE CORPORATION, USA;
HSBC MORTGAGE SERVICES, INC.;
HSBC BANK, U.S.A., N.A.; IB
PROPERTY HOLDINGS; JPMORGAN
CHASE BANK; MORTGAGE
ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION
SYSTEMS, INC.; MERSCORP, INC.;
MORTGAGE IT, INC.; MTC
FINANCIAL, INC., DBA Trustee
Corps.; NATIONAL CITY MORTGAGE;
PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP,
INC.; NATIONAL DEFAULT
SERVICING CORP.; NDEX WEST
LLC; OLD REPUBLIC NATIONAL
TITLE INSURANCE CO.; QUALITY
LOAN SERVICE CORPORATION;
RECONTRUST COMPANY; SAXON
MORTGAGE, INC.; T.D. SERVICE
COMPANY; UTLS DEFAULT
SERVICES, LLC; WELLS FARGO
BANK, NA; WESTERN PROGRESSIVE
TRUSTEE, LLC; CITYMORTGAGE,
INC.; LIME FINANCIAL SERVICES
LIMITED,
Defendants – Appellees.
Excerpt:
Fourth, the MDL Court held that appellants had not
pleaded their robosigning claims with sufficient particularity
to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). We disagree.
Section 33-420 characterizes as false, and therefore
actionable, a document that is “forged, groundless, contains
a material misstatement or false claim or is otherwise
invalid.” Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 33-420(A), (B) (emphasis
added). The CAC alleges that the documents at issue are
invalid because they are “robosigned (forged).” The CAC
specifically identifies numerous allegedly forged documents.
For example, the CAC alleges that notice of the trustee’s sale
of the property of Thomas and Laurie Bilyea was “notarized
in blank prior to being signed on behalf of Michael A. Bosco,
and the party that is represented to have signed the document,
Michael A. Bosco, did not sign the document, and the party
that did sign the document had no personal knowledge of any
of the facts set forth in the notice.” Further, the CAC alleges
that the document substituting a trustee under the deed of
trust for the property of Nicholas DeBaggis “was notarized in
blank prior to being signed on behalf of U.S. Bank National
Association, and the party that is represented to have signed
the document, Mark S. Bosco, did not sign the document.”
Still further, the CAC also alleges that Jim Montes, who
purportedly signed the substitution of trustee for the property
of Milan Stejic had, on the same day, “signed and recorded,
with differing signatures, numerous Substitutions of Trustee
in the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office . . . . Many of the
signatures appear visibly different than one another.” These
and similar allegations in the CAC “plausibly suggest an
entitlement to relief,” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 681
(2009), and provide the defendants fair notice as to the nature
of appellants’ claims against them, Starr v. Baca, 652 F.3d
1202, 1216 (9th Cir. 2011).
We therefore reverse the MDL Court’s dismissal of
Count I.
